PSY 249

Discussion Chapters 4 & 5 (PSY 249)

Discussion Chapters 4-5

Due Week 4 11:59 pm - don't wait to post feel free to work ahead - don't forget to respond to a different post for max credit. 

* Reminder to use the DSM 5 for diagnostic requirements when discussing a disorder. All posts require data to support your views for max credit You can type in DSM and the disorder and you should be able to pull up the criteria.

1. Describe and compare the effectiveness of exposure and medications as treatments for OCD and phobias. Which disorder is easier to treat-generalizes anxiety disorders, phobias or OCD?  https://images.pearsonclinical.com/images/assets/basc-3/basc3resources/DSM5_DiagnosticCriteria_GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder.pdf and  https://www.ocduk.org/ocd/clinical-classification-of-ocd/dsm-and-ocd/ Do people with OCD differ from people without OCD, according to Cognitive and Behavioral theory? Out of all the theories discussed do you feel one theory has the most effective view and treatment techniques?

2. How might a culture help create individual cases of body dysmorphia disorder? Why do some people in a society carry a culture's aesthetic ideals to an extreme, while others stay within normal bounds? Do you think the vivid images seen daily on television and movies would make people more vulnerable to developing psychological stress disorders or less vulnerable? 3. How might physicians, police, courts and other agents better meet the psychological needs of rape victims? What do you think the biggest concerns are when dealing with rape victims? Is treatment the same as other anxiety or trauma disorders?

4. Some accused criminals claim that they have dissociative identity disorder and that their crimes were committed by one of their sub-personalities. If such claims are accurate, what would be an appropriate verdict? If the crime is committed by the other personality does it negate the responsibility for the crime?

Use book to help answer questions and respond to 2 peers!

Peer 1: Brooklyn Garcia

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I believe this is a question of personal opinion. If I was a judge and I had someone come in who had committed a crime saying they had this disorder, first I would take proper steps to genuinely see if this was a diagnosis they could have but second I would look at the crime that was committed and how sever it was. If it was a life ending crime, murder, rape, etc then I believe it doesn't matter which personality did the action because at the end of the day this is a personality trait of the said human just because they do not recall the event or possible do does not excuse any sub-personality or person from actions like that. If the crime was of a smaller level maybe stealing something from a store for example I believe then just therapy and rehabilitation would be needed, this does not excuse the crime but it also focuses more on helping the said individual. Depending on the crime I believe regardless the human body should be held responsible regardless of which personality carried out the action. Providing therapy for this individual regardless of the verdict is also a very helpful source though. To answer the second part of the question I do not believe it negates the responsibility for the crime as stated before yes even though a nearly completely different person committed this crime it was done in one body and depending again on how severe the crime was I do not think it should matter. This is my personal opinion on the matter but I would love to hear any differing opinions and the reasoning behind why!

Peer 2: Ashley Davis

3. How might physicians, police, courts and other agents better meet the psychological needs of rape victims? What do you think the biggest concerns are when dealing with rape victims? Is treatment the same as other anxiety or trauma disorders?

When it comes to meeting the psychological needs of rape victims, there are a couple of things that can be done in order to make the victims feel more comfortable and at ease about the situation. The most important thing that needs to be considered is that fact that the main goal of the survivors shouldn't be to forget what happened to them. They should be focused on gaining perspective and returning back to living constructively (Comer, 153). This is important because if the survivors are told to forget the event they could begin to feel as though what happened to them wasn't important. Another thing that needs to be done is to make sure that they have a good social support system. Without this support system, they could begin to experience higher levels of depression, anxiety, and self-blame (Comer, 145). The treatment is similar but not quite the same due to the fact that the interconnections in the brain differ from those found in anxiety disorders (Comer, 149).